• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.46-54
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the pathogens of bloodstream infection in children with underlying hemato-oncologic diseases, analyze susceptibility patterns, compare temporal trends with those of previous studies, and assess empirical antimicrobial therapy. Methods: Retrospective review study of children bacteremia in hemato-oncologic diseases was conducted at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital from January 2013 to July 2023. Results: Overall, 98 episodes of bacteremia were observed in 74 patients. Among pathogens isolated, 57.1% (n=56) were Gram-positive bacteria, 38.8% (n=38) were Gram-negative bacteria, and 4.1% (n=4) were Candida spp. The most common Gram-positive bacteria were coagulase-negative staphylococci (n=21, 21.4%) and Staphylococcus aureus, (n=14, 14.3%) whereas the most common Gram-negative bacteria were Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=16, 16.3%) and Escherichia coli (n=10, 10.2%). The susceptibility of Gram-positive bacteria to penicillin, oxacillin, and vancomycin was 11.5%, 32.7%, and 94.2%, respectively and the susceptibility of Gram-negative bacteria to cefotaxime, piperacillin/tazobactam, imipenem, gentamicin, and amikacin was 68.6%, 80%, 97.1%, 82.9%, and 91.4%, respectively. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus was detected in 1 strain and among Gram-negative strains, extended spectrum β-lactamase accounted for 28.9% (12/38). When analyzing the antibiotic susceptibility and empirical antibiotics, the mismatch rate was 25.5% (n=25). The mortality rate of children within 30 days of bacteremia was 7.1% (n=7). Conclusions: Empirical antibiotic therapy for bacteremia in children with hemato-oncologic diseases should be based on the local antibiogram in each institution and continuous monitoring is necessary.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.279-284
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• 2017

The results of rapid antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) in blood cultures were obtained by inoculating the bacteria directly into the VITEK MS and the VITEK 2 systems without subculturing in the blood culture positive medium. The obtained results were compared with the results using a standard method to evaluate their reliability and accuracy. The direct AST results in blood culture positive specimens were 97.9% (1,936/1,978), consistent with the standard AST results. Gram-positive bacteria showed a concordance rate of 97.2% (1,051/1,081), a very major error rate of 0.5% (5/1,081), a major error rate of 0.1% (1/1,081), and a minor error rate of 2.2% (24/1,081). Staphylococcus epidermidis was the main cause of discordance, and gentamicin (N=9) and fusidic acid (N=8) showed high errors. The overall concordance rate and minor error among the Gram-negative bacteria were 98.6% (885/897) and 1.4% (12/897), respectively. Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the major causative bacteria of Gram-negative bacteria. Among them, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (N=3) showed high error. Direct AST met the CLSI criteria and shortened the reporting time by 24 hours; however, we found that there was a need to perform an addition test via disk diffusion for antimicrobials with very large errors. These results suggest that the method of direct AST in blood culture positive medium may be very useful in efficiently treating patients.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.115-121
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• 2008

Purpose: Aortic Dissection is very dangerous, prognostic disease, which the bloodstream flow out of the true lumen of the aorta by the bursting of aortic intima resulting in a rapid dissociation of inner and outer layer from the media. It is difficult to diagnose aortic dissection clinically by normal X-ray. This study was to investigate the occurrence frequency by age and number of patients who are identified to be aortic dissection by CT (Computed Tomography) scan. Materials and methods: We investigated the trend of yearly fluctuation, gender, age, and department of clinical research of the 112 patients who conducted CT scan in C- University Hospital for two years from January 2005 to December 2006. The MIP and SSD which reconstructed CT image and the VRT image were obtained for the accurate observation. The result was investigated by comparing normal X-ray and CT scan. Results and Conclusion: 1. The yearly check of 112 patients conducted CT scan showed 37 people (41.9%) in 2005, and it was increased to 65 (58.1%) in 2006 by 1.4 times. 2. The gender distribution of patients given a CT scan showed 45 males (40.1%), and female 67 (59.9 %). The aortic dissection patients were 9 (20%) out of 45 males, 21 (31.3%) out of 67 females and women were 1.6 times more than men. Women are also 1.5 times more than men in the number of examinee. 3. The age distribution of patient's who conducted CT scan revealed that there was no patient under 30 years old while 88.3% of all patients were through 41 to 80 years old. The higher the age was, the higher the occurrence of aortic dissection was. The difference in the occurrence frequency of age was statistically significant (p<0.01). 4. The departments that requested CT scan were the emergency department 46 (41.1%), circulatory internal medicine 37 (33.0%), chest surgery 13 (11.6%), and others 6 (14.3%). The combined ratio of emergency medicine and circulatory internal medicine was 74.1% of all. The results show that the aortic dissection is a very dangerous disease whose patients visit mainly via the emergency room. 5. The aortic dissection patients had normal X-ray readings in 22 (73.3%) out of 30, and only 8 (26.7 percent) are abnormal in the X-ray diagnosis. Therefore, the CT scan needs to be enforced in order to assess accurately the disease of aortic dissection.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2007

Liposomes having particle size from several tens to hundreds nanometers are efficient carriers for injectable drug delivery. Enhancement of liposome stability in bloodstream has been studied because of its relatively short circulation time and fast clearance from human body by reticuloendothelial system (RES) in blood vessel. In this study, new disaccharide-1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DSPE) derivatives in which lactose or sucrose as the disaccharide molecule was conjugated covalently to DSPE were synthesized. Liposomes of which surface had disaccharide molecules were prepared by incorporating the disaccharide-DSPE into liposomes as one of their lipid components. Particle size of the prepared liposomes was approximately 100 nm. The liposomes of which surface were modified with the disaccharide-DSPE showed -25 mV of zeta potential value due to the presence of hydroxyl groups on their surface, while the unmodified control liposomes showed -10 mV of zeta potential value. Loading efficiency of model drug, doxorubicin, into liposomes was about 90%. Stability of the disaccharide-modified liposomes in vitro was evaluated by monitoring the amount of protein adsorption and particle size of the liposomes in serum. Disaccharide-modified liposomes were more stable in serum than unmodified control liposomes or polyethyleneglycol (PEG)-modified liposomes due to less adsorption of serum protein and hence less increase of their particle size. The liposomes of which surface was modified with disaccharide-DSPE conjugate can be used as long-circulating carriers for drugs having high toxicity or short half-life time due to their enhanced stability in blood circulatory system.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.82-90
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• 2018

Purpose: Survival after liver transplantation (LT) has improved over the years, but infection is still a major complication. We aimed to identify the characteristics of bacterial infections in pediatric LT recipients. Methods: This study is a retrospective review of 189 consecutive children undergoing LT between 2000 and 2015 at a single center. In this study, the incidence of infection was determined for the following periods: within 1 month, between 1-5 months, and between 6-12 months. Patients who underwent liver transplants more than once or multiple organ transplants were excluded. Results: All patients had received postoperative antibiotic for 3 days. Only the maintenance immunosuppression with oral tacrolimus and steroids were performed. As a result, 132 bacterial infections developed in 87 (46.0%) patients (0.70 events per person-year). Bacterial infections occurred most frequently within the first month (n=84, 63.6%) after LT. In the pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus (15.2%), Enterococcus species (15.2%), and Klebsiella species (13.6%) were most common. Regarding the organ infected, bloodstream was most common (n=39, 29.5%), followed by peritoneum (n=28, 21.2%), urinary tract (n=25, 18.9%), and lungs (n=20, 15.2%). We changed prophylactic antibiotics from ampicillin-sulbactam to piperacillin-tazobactam at 2011, October, there were no significant effects in the prevalence of antibiotics resistant bacterial infections. The 1-year mortality was 9.0% (n=17), in which 41.2% (n=7) was attributable to bacterial infection; septicemia (n=4), pneumonia (n=2), and peritonitis (n=1). Conclusions: The incidence and type of bacterial infectious complications after LT in pediatric patients were similar to those of previous studies. Bacterial complications affecting mortality occur within 6 months after transplantation, so proper prophylaxis and treatment in this period may improve the prognosis of LT.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.110-118
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• 2022

Candidemia is a major cause of nosocomial infections resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. It remains a serious risk in inpatients and increases medical treatment costs. From 2009 to 2018, Candida strains (3,533) isolated from blood culture tests at the S Hospital were analyzed according to the period, year, sex, age, ward, etc. During the entire period, 54,739 of 717,996 blood culture tests showed a positive rate (7.6%) and the Candida isolation rate was 3,533 (6.4%) out of 1,036 patients. Among the Candida isolates, C. albicans was most common (33.8%), followed by C. tropicalis (28.6%), C. glabrata (19.8%), C. parapsilosis (7.8%), and C. krusei (4.0%). In early (2009~2013)/late (2014~2018) isolation, C. tropicalis decreased by 3.8% and C. glabrata increased by 3.4%. After 50 years of age, the higher the separation frequency. C. parapsilosis (31.3%) in 1~10s, C. tropicalis (30.3%) and C. glabrata (27.6%) in 41~50s, and C. tropicalis (28.6%) in 80s are relatively frequent. has been separated C. krusei was isolated in a relatively high proportion from females (60.9%). Therefore, a systematic and continuous nosocomial infection control system should be established for appropriate treatment as per antifungal treatment guidelines. The system should continuously monitor the distribution of Candida species and provide rapid identification results.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.77-81
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• 2009

Purpose: The PET of the PET/CT (Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography) quantitatively shows the biological and chemical information of the body, but has limitation of presenting the clear anatomic structure. Thus combining the PET with CT, it is not only possible to offer the higher resolution but also effectively shorten the scanning time and reduce the noises by using CT data in attenuation correction. And because, at the CT scanning, the contrast media makes it easy to determine a exact range of the lesion and distinguish the normal organs, there is a certain increase in the use of it. However, in the case of using the contrast media, it affects semi-quantitative measures of the PET/CT images. In this study, therefore, we will be to establish the reliability of the SUV (Standardized Uptake Value) with CT data correction so that it can help more accurate diagnosis. Materials and Methods: In this experiment, a total of 30 people are targeted - age range: from 27 to 72, average age : 49.6 - and DSTe (General Electric Healthcare, Milwaukee, MI, USA) is used for equipment. $^{18}F$- FDG 370~555 MBq is injected into the subjects depending on their weight and, after about 60 minutes of their stable position, a whole-body scan is taken. The CT scan is set to 140 kV and 210 mA, and the injected amount of the contrast media is 2 cc per 1 kg of the patients' weight. With the raw data from the scan, we obtain a image showing the effect of the contrast media through the attenuation correction by both of the corrected and uncorrected CT data. Then we mark out ROI (Region of Interest) in each area to measure SUV and analyze the difference. Results: According to the analysis, the SUV is decreased in the liver and heart which have more bloodstream than the others, because of the contrast media correction. On the other hand, there is no difference in the lungs. Conclusions: Whereas the CT scan images with the contrast media from the PET/CT increase the contrast of the targeted region for the test so that it can improve efficiency of diagnosis, there occurred an increase of SUV, a semi-quantitative analytical method. In this research, we measure the variation of SUV through the correction of the influence of contrast media and compare the differences. As we revise the SUV which is increasing in the image with attenuation correction by using contrast media, we can expect anatomical images of high-resolution. Furthermore, it is considered that through this trusted semi-quantitative method, it will definitely enhance the diagnostic value.